Prague has become one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations.
Its traditional pubs and eateries have been augmented by a wave of gourmet
restaurants, cocktail bars and trendy cafes, though you can still feast
on pork and dumplings washed down with a beer.

The city was largely undamaged by WWII, and the cityscape is stunning.
Its compact medieval centre, watched over by an 1100-year-old castle,
remains an evocative maze of cobbled lanes, ancient courtyards, dark passages
and churches beyond number .

Prague's social life is incredibly youthful, in counterpoint to the city's
venerable past, mixing young Czechs in search of urban adventure with
hordes of 20-something expats in search of the romanticism of Golden Prague.
Though veteran travellers complain that their secret treasure has been
discovered by the world, the evening sun still shimmers across the city's
domes and spires, the clatter and chatter of Czechs enjoying an after-work
drink spills from the window of the public recreation centre, and from
the open doors of back street pubs, Dvorák's folksy symphonies
are played on an out-of-tune piano.

Facts at a glance

Area: 496 sq km
Population: 1.21 million
Country: Czech Republic
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +1 (Central European Time)
Telephone Area Code: All Czech phone numbers have nine digits –
you have to dial all nine for any call, local or long distance.

History

There are archeological evidences in the area from around 6000 BC. Around
4000 BC, permanent farming communities were established in the area by
Germanic and Celtic tribes. Slavs came into the picture around the turn
of the millennium, and by the 600 AD had settled opposite sides of a particularly
appealing stretch of the Vltava River.

9th century: Slavs successfully defended the land now known as Bohemia
for generations, but by in this centuryit had been conquered by the Great
Moravian Empire. The short-lived empire introduced the locals to Christianity.

930: 'Good King Wenceslas' of Christmas-carol fame (he was actually
a duke) made Christianity the state religion of Bohemia. He remains the
patron saint of the Czech Republic.

1346-78: Under the rule of Charles IV Prague truly came into its own,
becoming one of the continent's largest and most prosperous cities, acquiring
its fine Gothic face and landmark buildings like Charles University, Charles
Bridge and St Vitus Cathedral.

1380: Jan Hus, who attended Charles University, rallied popular support
for the Church-reform movement; when he was burned at the stake in 1415,
the rabble was roused enough to hurl various Catholic officials from the
upper stories of Prague's New Town Hall, introducing the word 'defenestration'
(to toss someone out a window) into the popular political lexicon.

1526: Ascent of the Catholic Hapsburg family to power in the region cooled
things off briefly, a second round of defenestrations in 1618 made it
clear that the matter was not quite settled. Their defeat slammed the
door on Czech independence for almost three centuries. The insurrection
catalyzed the Thirty Years War, which devastated much of Europe; a quarter
of Bohemia perished. The Czech national spirit was not so easily crushed,
however, and by the 19th century, Prague, which had been unified in 1784
by imperial decree, had become the centre of the so-called Czech National
Revival.

Czech literature, architecture and journalism were celebrated, even as
Czechs were denied participation in the political process.Nationalist
sentiment was growing as waves of pro-democracy protests swept the continent.

1848: An uprising was summarily squelched, but in 1861 the Czech majority
defeated German candidates in the Prague council elections. It was a watershed
event for Czech independence.

20th century: The Czech nationalist movement was solidified. Czechs
had no interest in fighting for their Austrian masters in WWI, and neighbouring
Slovakia was equally reluctant to take up arms for their German occupiers.

1918: Leaders from both independence movements approached US President
Wilson, who was actively trying to build the League of Nations, asking
for his help in achieving their dream. With Allied support, Czechoslovakia
became an independent nation; Prague became its first capital.

1939: The young country weathered the Great Depression only to be occupied
by Nazi Germany, Bohemia and Moravia were labelled a 'protectorate' and
Slovakia an 'independent' puppet state. Prague's community of some 120,000
Jews was all but wiped out; almost three-quarters of them either starved
or were murdered in concentration camps.

1945: On May 5, the population of Prague rose up against German occupation
forces as the Red Army approached from the east. Most of Prague was liberated
before the Soviets arrived. Liberation Day is now celebrated on May 8;
under communism it was May 9.

1946: In the elections, the communists became the young republic's dominant
party, and in 1948 did away with the inefficiencies of a multi-party system
with a Soviet-backed coup d'état.

1968: After years of gradual liberalisation under General Secretary Dubcek,
the 'Prague Spring' came into full bloom. Full democracy, an end to censorship,
and 'socialism with a human face' were the goals of this popular movement.
Moscow was miffed and sent tanks into Prague. Fifty-eight people died,
almost 300,000 sympathisers lost their jobs and, in something of a step
down, Dubcek was forced to find employment with the Slovak Forestry Department.

The newly stringent communist leadership maintained control until the
breaching of the Berlin Wall in 1989. A series of peaceful demonstrations
beginning on November 17 became confrontational, though the essentially
nonviolent character of the uprising earned it the name 'Velvet Revolution'.

1990: Free elections were held, and the Czech and Slovakian separatist
movements subsequently inspired the smooth 1993 split into the Czech and
Slovak Republics, remembered as the 'Velvet Divorce'.

Prague quickly became one of the top tourist destinations in the world
during the 1990s, and the ringing of cash registers combined with a solid
industrial base has left its citizens in better economic shape than those
in the rest of the country. The Czech Republic has become a member state
of the EU, and Prague will preside gracefully as the country finds a new
place in the world. Much of this spare change has been reinvested in the
city itself, making for an even more pleasant visit.

2002: In August, Prague experienced the worst floods in almost two centuries,
with the river Vltava sweeping the city. The final damage was calculated
in the billions of US dollars, with the city's low-lying Jewish Quarter
suffering considerable damage, as well as the Karlin and Troja districts,
the metro system and numerous cultural and tourist attractions. Sixteen
people died, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their
homes and businesses, the historic city centre was closed off and there
were fears that the 14th-century Charles Bridge would be washed away.